Whether Adult Hospitals or Children’s Hospitals – Overcrowding and Capacity Issues Plague Healthcare in Canada

January 17, 2023, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

Recent news coverage of emergency rooms closing in Ontario due to staffing shortages, or hospitals redirecting patients and closing units due to being over capacity are rampant. COVID took our healthcare system which was already strained and broke it. The veneer of Canadian healthcare is now tarnished.

What Happened

Two years of backlogs of non-essential surgeries, and two years of backlog of essential routine tests along with the increased admission numbers due to COVID have left many Canadians wondering how this could happen, and many healthcare workers exhausted and leaving the profession.

Some Examples of the Crisis in Healthcare

The news recently reported about a woman left in Mexico with flesh-eating disease because there were no beds for her in Alberta hospitals for treatment even though medivac was available. 

Another story featured the plight of an 88-year-old woman who was left to spend part of a day in a supply room in the hospital since her room was needed by someone sicker than she was.

Hospitals aren't the only places being impacted

The crisis in healthcare doesn’t end with the hospitals. In Ontario, thousands of people are waiting for specialist appointments, therapy and essential but non-emergent surgeries. We have a mental health crisis and an addiction crisis which is in part worsened by the lack of timely access to psychiatric care. Suicide attempts and overdoses are not adequately treated due to a lack of resources in the system.

Nursing homes are full with long waiting lists. The few rehab hospitals and psychiatric hospitals that are left are also full.

In our personal injury and disability law practices, we see the impacts of the broken healthcare system daily. OHIP is no longer able to provide timely care to patients in many cases. This can have long-term negative impacts on healthcare outcomes, particularly for pediatric patients.

This makes it more important than ever to call an experienced personal injury lawyer if you are injured seriously in an accident. Access to healthcare is expensive and many treatments for injuries and rehab from car accidents, bike accidents, slip and falls and workplace injuries are not paid for by OHIP. Fighting insurance companies for coverage costs time and money and energy that you may not have.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in an accident due to someone else’s negligence you should call us today 1 (519) 742-7774 or fill out our online contact form for a free initial consultation - home and hospital visits are available. Remember we will work with you - we are committed to your future.

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

It is important that you review your accident benefit file with one of our experienced personal injury / car accident lawyers to ensure that you obtain access to all your benefits which include, but are limited to, things like physiotherapy, income replacement benefits, vocational retraining and home modifications.